CAIRO — Muslims awaited the sighting of the crescent moon on Tuesday to begin fasting during an especially gruelling month of Ramadan, with its sweltering heat and extremely long daylight hours.
Muslims observe the ninth month of the lunar Islamic calendar by abstaining from food, drink and sex from dawn until sunset during Ramadan.
It was expected to start on Wednesday throughout much of the world or a day later, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon the night before.
Pregnant and menstruating women, the sick, travellers and prepubescent children are exempt from the fast, which is one of the five pillars of Islam.
Ramadan will begin amid scorching temperatures in the Middle East and elsewhere, with the first six months of 2010 being the warmest ever recorded.
Egypt, the largest Arab country whose 80 million population is mostly Muslim, will switch to winter time for the month.
Rival Palestinian governments in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip said Tuesday they would switch to winter time on the first day of fasting.
Palestinians on both territories, divided since the Islamist Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in 2007 after driving out the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, said they will move clocks back one hour.
In Dubai, a cleric told workmen they are religiously allowed to break their fast if the heat got the better of them.
Most fasting Muslims go about their business as usual, if skimping an hour or two from work. Sleeping well into the day, although not technically a fast breaker, is considering cheating by some clerics.
Pieties increase, with additional optional prayers in the evening. Often, so does the evening and night-time revelry for those able to peel themselves away from the special Ramadan television series in the evenings.
The month is marked by family visits and invitations to sumptuous iftars -- the meal that breaks the fast.
Festivities can last into the early morning, to the consternation of traditional clerics who stress the ascetic nature of the month, in which Muslims believe God revealed the Quran to the Prophet Mohammed.
Egypt, which depends on tourism, is offering rich Arab holidaymakers fireworks, concerts, folkloric shows and displays by whirling dervishes.
But given the family-centred traditions of the month, enticing people to leave their countries is a tough sell.
Egypt's bars and pubs either close during the month or switch to abstemious menus, with the exception of hotel bars, which serve alcohol only to non-Egyptians to conform with the Islamic ban on alcohol.
Dubai, one of the most popular Middle East cities for party-goers, closes its nightclubs or bans dancing in them.
Consumption of alcohol in the United Arab Emirates is officially allowed only for non-Muslims. But in practice, anyone can drink at licensed hotels and clubs. During Ramadan, hotels close off their bars from public view.
"There are tourists and non-Muslims in the country and they can go to closed bars in which they can be served alcohol" during Ramadan, director of Dubai government's inspection and tourism permit section, Mohammed Khalifa, told AFP.
"It is not permitted to hold entertainment activities, celebrations, or parties at any time throughout the holy month of Ramadan," the government said in an August 2 circular.
Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, will take the opportunity to crack down on Internet pornography.
Quoting a poem at a press conference on Tuesday, Communications Minister Tifatul Sembiring called on Muslims to "keep hearts clean in the holy month," and said that he would target websites and media that carried sexual content.
Despite the fasting, some clerics complain that people end up piling on the pounds during the month, as they over-indulge to compensate for the fasting. The consumption contributes to price hikes.
In Mauritania, the government announced "urgent measures" against the increase.
The global rise in food prices, coupled with the Ramadan spike, also means that less can afford a traditional theme of the month -- charity.
Long iftar tables set with free stews and bread that were commonplace in Cairo have been noticeably decreasing over the past two years, with many hosts saying they can't afford it anymore.
